Statement of Cardinal Tobin on St. Patrick’s Day Dispensation
February 23, 2017
My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This year, the celebration of the Feast of St. Patrick — March 17, 2017 — falls on the Friday of the Second Week of Lent.
After due consideration of a number of requests, I dispense the people of the Archdiocese of Newark from the obligation to abstain from meat on Friday, March 17, 2017.
I remind Catholics who avail themselves of this dispensation that the Church highly encourages you to substitute some other act of penance, such as special prayer, acts of piety or works of charity on March 17th.
Please share this information with all in your parish and school communities. I also encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity to remind your communities of the Lenten Regulations, a copy of which is attached.
Ridgewood NJ, The adult female driver of a white colored 4-door sedan was taken into custody by Ridgewood PD officers when she failed a field sobriety test, which was administered after her vehicle was hit by a freight train shortly before 1:00 AM on Friday, 03/10. The incident occurred near the intersection of Goffle Road and Lake Street. The driver had fled the crash scene on foot and was apprehended a short distance away by Hawthorne PD. There were no other occupants in the vehicle when it was hit and the driver was uninjured. The vehicle was removed from the scene by a hydraulic lift tow truck. The freight train was not damaged.
Ho Ho Ho , don’t worry folks. Yes, taxes will go up up up because of the garage, but if you buy thousands of dollars of items in the central business district , you will get a discount on your taxes. What $10. Remember, Hache said they are working on a plan to offer rewards for shopping in business district ; you get a property tax discount. My foot !
Ridgewood will lose its distinction of being charming and villagey and quaint. And the garage will need a big police presence. Very muggable at night in the dark. Police cost money ; raised taxes, big time.
And it is a horrible location. That intersection now is the pits to drive through.
Yes, how will the garage be paid for? Raised pricing on parking? I won’t pay more to park and spend in the CBD. Even with the promised discount on my taxes.
They will tell us that the garage will pay for itself, with use? I ain’t usin it. Even in the daylight, it is a trap for muggers.
Huge , no matter what size and ugly for charmin historical Ridgewood.
Ridgewood NJ, In the business and office districts, snow shall be removed from the sidewalks concurrently with its fall. To assure compliance with this section, more than one clearing may be required to keep the sidewalks as free of snow as is practical. Snowfalls commencing after 6:00 p.m., will be cleared by no later than 9:00 a.m. the following morning, Sundays and holidays included. For snow occurring Monday through Saturday, during business hours, sidewalks shall be cleared to a five-foot minimum width to provide access from the storefront to the curb, between meters, if meters are installed. After 6:00 p.m. and on Sundays and holidays, sidewalks will be completely cleared into the street.
Also remember to remove all ice and snow from your vehicle before driving, especially from the hood, windows and roof. It’s the law in New Jersey! Motorists who fail to do so face fines of $25 to $75 for each offense, regardless of whether the ice and snow is dislodged from the vehicle. If flying ice or snow causes property damage or injury to others, motorists face fines of $200 to $1,000 for each offense. There are approximately 500 fatalities in the United States per year due to icy road conditions.
If you have a fire hydrant in front of your house, help yourself and help your neighbors by keeping it clear of snow. Ridgewood Police and Fire Departments urge resident to clear a path around the hydrant of 3 feet by 3 feet
...SNOW THROUGH MID AFTERNOON...
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 2 PM EST THIS
AFTERNOON...
* Locations...New York City Metro, Northeast New Jersey, Lower
Hudson Valley, Nassau and Western Suffolk Counties on Long
Island, and Southern Connecticut west of New London County.
* Hazard Types...Snow.
* Accumulations...Snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches.
* Timing...Snow will develop from north to south this morning and
become heaviest during the morning commute. Across Long Island,
the heaviest snow may hold off toward the end of the commute.
* Impacts...Hazardous/slippery travel due to snow accumulations.
* Temperatures...Around freezing.
* Visibilities...One quarter to one half mile at times.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A Winter Weather Advisory means that periods of snow...sleet...or
freezing rain will cause travel difficulties. Be prepared for
slippery roads and limited visibilities...and use caution while
driving.
Ridgewood Nj, in a shocking turn of events the Village Council had almost no public comments on Wednesday night.The Village Council continued to move forward on a variety of issues.
Village Manager Heather Mailander reminded everyone about the Village budget meetings;
Thursday, March 9 Senior Lounge @ 5:30pm
Wednesday, March 15 Court Room @ 5:30pm
Monday, March 27 Court Room @ 5:30pm
Councilmen Voigt said that the Financial Advisory Committee was putting together an analysis of parking garage and how to pay for it, and working on an analysis of Village fees.
Deputy Mayor Michael Sedon in what may come as a surprise to many said the Village council has been looking to advance a Garage on Hudson street for months, the Village council will roll out a 3 story garage plan with a modified conceptual design that fits on the property and takes into account all the criticism of previous Garagezilla.
Councilmen Ramon Hache said the Central business advisory committee floated the idea of a local merchant reward card, earning credits against tax liabilities
Mayor Susan Knudsen reiterated that Village boards are for people invested in the community and to represent the Village of Ridgewood.
In what can be can only be considered a major breakthrough, in parking, the restrictions have been removed from backing into spaces.
Residents will be relieved to note that the fees will remain unchanged for Graydon Pool and Ridgewood Tennis this summer.
And finally the council also passed a new ordinance regulating the “Water Irrigation Schedule and Water Emergencies”. The new ordinance limits watering of lawns for both governmental and non-governmental properties to two days per week, year-round. Irrigation by a hand-held hose or drip/micro irrigation system is allowed any day. Defines the exceptions to this ordinance as well as the hours when watering of lawns is permitted, and enforcement policies and procedures.
By Samantha Marcus | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on March 07, 2017 at 11:38 AM, updated March 07, 2017 at 12:25 PM
TRENTON — Seniors and citizens who benefit from New Jersey’s Senior Freeze property tax relief program could receive credits against their real estate bills instead of rebates under a bill in the Legislature.
The Assembly State and Local Government Committee on Monday approved the bill, which would convert the Senior Freeze reimbursements into credits — a change the sponsors said would cut state administrative costs and spare eligible homeowners from having to pay the full bill before receiving a reimbursement check in the following tax year.
The Senior Freeze programs is slated to help offset property tax increases for about 166,000 property owners this fiscal year.
To be eligible for the Senior Freeze program, you must be 65 or older or receiving Social Security benefits and have lived in the state for 10 years. Other requirements, including income limits, apply.
TERRY SPENCER, Associated Press9:23 a.m. ET March 6, 2017
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Many of the Medicare fraud charges against prominent Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen are complicated, but one is simple — federal prosecutors say he claimed reimbursement for treating both eyes of patients who have one prosthetic.
Melgen is scheduled to go on trial Monday in West Palm Beach, facing 76 counts charging him with stealing up to $190 million from Medicare between 2004 and 2013. Prosecutors say he prescribed unneeded treatments, filed claims for procedures he never performed and charged for medicine he never purchased. If convicted, the 62-year-old doctor faces up to 610 years in prison. He is free on $18 million bond. He faces a bribery trial this fall in New Jersey with Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez
Ridgewood NJ, on Saturday Ridgewood ‘s favorite ice cream shop Van Dyk’s opened for the season. Daylight savings time is near and spring can’t be far behind.
In 2012 Van Dyk’s was named by CBS as one of New Jersey’s 4 best homemade Ice Cream shops. In 2014 New Jersey family magazine also picked Van Dyk’s as one of the Garden States best ice cream shops.
Don’t be surprised if you have never heard of Van Dyk’s.Unless you’re a long time Ridgewood native or heard about it via word of mouth, you probably don’t know about Van Dyke’s.Van Dyke makes all its own ice cream right on premises. The shop is located on the intersection of Ackerman Avenue and Spencer Place in Ridgewood. There’s a wooden sign in the parking lot which isn’t lit up at night, they don’t advertise and the shop basically looks like a residential house with a somewhat bigger parking lot than some of the other houses in the neighborhood.
Van Dyk’s It’s located at 145 Ackerman Ave and open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week,(201) 444-1429.
Ridgewood Nj, Ridgewood PD Patrol Officer Salvatore D’Amico assists Detectives Douglas Henky and Steven Shortway in the investigation of a Swastika found etched in a sidewalk at the intersection of Northern Parkway and Overbrook Road, Ridgewood on Monday morning, 03/06. Ridgewood PD had learned of the Swastika via posts on numerous Ridgewood based Facebook groups.
Ridgewood Village staff quickly jumped into action and “Erased the Hatred” from the sidewalk.
Photo courtesy of Village of Ridgewood Mayor Susan Knudsen
Lowering rate of return on fund investments will help, but some experts argue full actuarial payments — not called for in Christie budget address — remain critical
New actuarial calculations for New Jersey’s beleaguered public-employee pension system show an unfunded liability of near $50 billion, a staggering number for a retirement plan that’s been set up to cover roughly 780,000 current and retired government workers.
But many financial experts believe the pension system’s funding problem is potentially much worse, because the state has for decades been using optimistic assumptions when it comes to projecting annual investment returns.
The $72 billion pension system’s assumed rate of return, or discount rate, for the past few years has been 7.9 percent, which is higher than the average returns of just over 7 percent that the pension system has realized over the past 20 years. Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican who has stressed pension reform during his two terms in office, announced last week that the rate will be lowered to a more realistic 7.65 percent.
While the difference seems subtle, pension experts say the downward adjustment is good for the retirement system’s overall long-term health because it will generate a more realistic assessment of the unfunded liability, and that in turn will require the state to make more robust annual contributions in the ongoing effort to maintain the fund’s solvency.
Christie’s efforts — the reduction is just the latest to occur during his tenure — also line up with calls for more realistic accounting that have come from Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), the Legislature’s leading Democrat on issues related to pension funding and employee benefits
Ridgewood NJ, this was shared on Facebook by Ridgewood resident Dana Glazer ; the discovery of this swastika at the intersection of Northern Parkway and Overbrook Road. It has evidently been here a while.
If you think that our village is immune to hatred, think again. Dana asks everyone to “Please be vigilant. Thank you.”
Mayor Susan Traina Knudsen is on top of the situation and prompt removal will occur today.
Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal reminds us of law enforcement efforts to investigate and prosecute bias incidents/crimes, including the need to report such events and the $10K reward offered by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office for information leading to a bias crime conviction.
Ridgewood Police are, by and large, very good. The question that was put to us was, why does NJ have more cops per capita than other states? Answer – unions. Unions exist to make sure that the least qualified are guaranteed work and paid as well as the most qualified. Additionally, the union pension system is hopelessly unsustainable and when it finally breaks things will be ugly for everyone – those of us that pay for it and union members that collect it. The sooner we address this, the less bad it will be.
New Jersey lawmakers are moving ahead with plans to tax and regulate home-sharing operations like Airbnb. And while the company is OK with collecting taxes, it doesn’t like the approach being taken to license or prohibit the short-term rentals it brokers.
Assemblywoman Annette Quijano, D-Union, said New Jersey’s tax laws need to be updated to keep up with technology and the home-sharing portion of the hospitality industry.
“It’s unfair to hotels and motels that have to compete with a new business model that provides essentially the same service but does not have to charge state sales tax, the state hotel/motel fee and a municipal hotel tax, which can total up to 18 percent in some areas,” Quijano said. “That’s a very significant disparity and a significant barrier to overcome.”
Last year, more than 6,000 New Jersey hosts earned over $50 million through 257,000 short-term rentals arranged through Airbnb.
WORK SCHEDULE UPDATE: March 6, 2017 – March 10, 2017
March 6, 2017 –March 9, 2017
Underground Pipe Installation
Franklin Ave.
(Chestnut and North Broad Street)
When working inside the intersection, access to N. Broad will be impacted. Detailed detour signs will be in place. When working on Franklin Ave. 2 lanes of traffic will be maintained,
Parking on Franklin Avenue near the intersection of Chestnut will be impacted during working hours.
March 10, 2017
Underground Pipe Installation
Intersection of
Franklin Ave. & Walnut
Traffic will be shifted, two lanes will be maintained.
Parking will be impacted during working hours.
As part of our electric reliability improvements in Bergen County, PSE&G will be performing utility underground work in the Village of Ridgewood. As of early-March 2017, PSE&G will beperforming the following activities in your area:
Safety is our primary concern. PSE&G will work with the Ridgewood Police Department to minimize any traffic concerns or inconveniences to the public. During construction, please refrain from going near our construction work zones.
The upgrades will enhance your electric capacity, system redundancy, and service reliability within the Village of Ridgewood, as well as surrounding communities. If you have questions or concerns, please call our toll free number at 1-877-678-5784
